


Seeing Colors and Other Superpowers

by Poetry



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Getting Back Together, M/M, Podfic Available, Romantic Fluff, adam pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8859466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetry/pseuds/Poetry
Summary: Adam could barely deal with his own feelings and thoughts half the time, much less those of everyone around him. But Caleb and Chloe had used their abilities to become better people. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same, in their position.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheWrongKindOfPC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWrongKindOfPC/gifts).



> I love this podcast and I tried to make this fic as canon-compliant as I could with all the great new episodes that came out before the Yuletide deadline. Enjoy!

**I.**

 

Adam had known Caleb for years. They were in the same grade, and it wasn’t that big a school. But he just blended into the background of all the other jocks, until after he got into that big fight.

He didn’t really know what the fight was about. Apparently Caleb got into an argument with his friend, and the friend backed down and apologized for whatever he’d said, then Caleb started shouting that he wasn’t really sorry, and what was the point of apologizing if he didn’t actually mean it, and then they started punching each other.

Adam started paying attention, then, because if Caleb was a loose cannon, he wanted to know about it. He got pushed around enough without adding in guys who lost their cool over any little thing. But he found out pretty quickly that Caleb wasn’t a loose cannon at all. He was sensitive, with all the good and the bad that came with that.

Caleb said hi whenever he ran into one of the janitors, and asked them how it was going. When he worked on a group project, he waited patiently for whoever was taking the longest to get what they were learning. When he hurt someone’s feelings, he apologized right away. The only time he ever got angry was when someone else was already angry.

Plus, you know, he was cute. All of those muscles from playing football. But Adam had crushes all the time, and none of them mattered, because no one ever paid attention to him the way he did to other people.

 

**II.**

 

“So,” Adam said, tangling his fingers with Caleb’s. “When did you realize you were gay?”

“Um,” Caleb said, tilting his head away. “I don’t think I am gay.”

“Bi, then,” Adam said. He squeezed Caleb’s hand. “Hey. It’s okay if you’re bi. Lots of people are.”

Caleb turned his head so he looked up at the clouds. A long blade of grass tickled his temple. “I don’t know. I didn’t really let myself feel things like that, ever since I got my ability. Strong emotions are the hardest to deal with, and whenever someone around me had a crush, or was, uh, horny or whatever, it got under my skin. So I just ignored all that stuff, whether it was mine or someone else’s.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Adam said. “I mean, you wouldn’t want to walk around with an awkward boner all the time.”

Caleb reached over with his other hand to smack him on the shoulder. “Hey. It’s not a joke. Reading those kinds of feelings from adults was really creepy. I had to block it out or it would have driven me crazy.”

“Oh,” Adam said. “I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry.”

“Whatever. It’s not a big deal. But the point is, I tried not to think about that stuff. But then I got to know you, and, uh. I liked the way your feelings felt. Like, a lot.” Caleb turned toward Adam, a little, and the sun threw long wispy shadows from his eyelashes onto his cheek. “I dunno. Maybe I am gay. All I know is, I like you.”

It shouldn’t have been a relief, but it was. Part of Adam had been afraid that Caleb wasn’t really gay and had just absorbed Adam’s gayness with his empathy somehow. But Caleb blocked out other people’s crushes. Except Adam’s, because he wanted to feel it.

“I like you too,” Adam said. “Can you tell?”

“Oh yeah,” Caleb said, smiling, and pulled Adam in to kiss his sunlit face.

 

**III.**

 

During study hall, Caleb’s teammates were at the next table over, talking about junior prom. Adam tuned them out and worked on his calculus problems. So it took him a while to realize that one of them was calling his name.

“Hey Adam!” he said. “You taking Caleb to junior prom?”

“He’s not interested,” Adam said. It still felt weird to have a polite conversation with a football player, after so long being afraid of them. “He doesn’t like those big dances, you know?”

“Well, maybe you can come to our afterparty. It’ll be smaller.”

“I’ll ask him,” Adam said. He got out his phone and texted Caleb. _One of your football bros just asked me if we’re going to junior prom together._

 _No way,_ Caleb texted back.

 _I know._ Adam started a new text. _I didn’t think they’d be so okay about us. It’s kind of weird being the only gay couple in our grade._

 _We’re not the only one,_ Caleb said. _Lena and Keisha’s emotions get all pink and fizzy when they’re near each other. I’m pretty sure they’re together._

Adam blinked. Lena had study hall this period, too. He looked around and saw her at one of the library computers. She had sparkly pink clips in her waist-length hair. She did spend a lot of time with Keisha. Adam had never really thought they might be together. But Caleb didn’t have to work off assumptions and stereotypes about what lesbians were like. He just felt them being pink and fizzy together.

 _What color are our fizzies?_ Adam sent, and immediately blushed. Why did he have to write out every stupid thing that popped into his head?

His phone buzzed. _I used to think it was kind of like your feelings were blue and mine were yellow. But when we started hanging out, our feelings just fit. Now everything we feel together is green._

Adam looked up at the football bros. Did they know how much of a romantic their teammate could be? Adam smiled to himself. _Green._

 

**IV.**

 

Talking to Chloe, Adam discovered, was kind of like talking to his parents. They knew him his whole life, and all he had to do was say, “Ugh, this is like brunch with Annabelle,” and they knew he meant that whatever they were doing was dragging on way too long. They had a shared context. Adam had never met Chloe before, but she always knew exactly what he meant.

When Adam kept pulling Caleb closer every time someone walked close to them on the sidewalk, Chloe said, “Don’t worry. Damien isn’t following us. I know what his mind feels like, and he’s definitely not around here.” When Adam stopped in front of the fro-yo place and said very neutrally that he’d been there before, Chloe finished, “And you didn’t like it. Don’t worry, there’s another fro-yo place on the next block. College students have an insatiable appetite for fro-yo.”

Chloe greeted the kids behind the counter by name and asked them how their days were going. When Adam, Caleb, and Chloe sat down together with their desserts, Adam said, “You two have that in common. You always talk to people working service or retail or whatever. You know all the janitors’ names at school, Caleb, and you know the names of everyone who works here, Chloe.”

Caleb shrugged and dug into his fro-yo. “Everyone treats retail workers and janitors and doormen like they’re furniture. I can’t do that. They have feelings just like mine. It’s not like I can forget. So I treat them just like anyone else I see all the time. I say hi, ask how their day’s been.”

“Exactly,” Chloe said, pointing her spoon at Caleb. “Ever since I figured out how to use my ability, I’m always aware of the people around me. I can’t help it, so I just try to embrace it.”

Adam stuffed his mouth with fro-yo to cover his reaction. He could barely deal with his own feelings and thoughts half the time, much less those of everyone around him. But Caleb and Chloe had used their abilities to become better people. Adam wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same, in their position.

“You’d be amazed, how people adapt,” Chloe told him, as if he’d spoken aloud. “You’re a careful person. I see how you think before you act. It’s all dense, like someone trying to write a lot of lines on one page. I bet if you had an ability you’d use it very… thoughtfully.”

“We talked about what ability Adam should have,” Caleb said. “I thought he should have super speed, so he could do stuff fast enough to keep up with his brain.”

Chloe laughed. “That would fit.” She looked at Adam. “You don’t have to keep worrying about Damien, you know. I mean, he’s definitely not good news. But Dr. Bright isn’t scared of him. She thinks he just wants to have friends, but doesn’t know how to make them because of his ability.”

“What about your ability?” Adam said, because he didn’t want to talk about Damien anymore. “Does it make it hard for you to make friends?”

“It makes it easy to meet people,” Chloe said. “And to start connecting with them. Obviously. But yeah. It does make it hard to make friends.”

“Mine too,” Caleb said. He stole a maraschino cherry from Adam’s fro-yo, and Adam stole a strawberry from his in revenge. “Good thing I found an exception.”

 

**V.**

 

Soon after Caleb went out to the lake house with his family, Adam went to Chloe’s studio to see her. It was his first time going there alone.

Chloe was deep in her painting when Adam came into the studio, but her head popped up, scanning for him. He waved and came over.

“You recognized my thoughts when I came in,” Adam said.

“Yeah, sure,” Chloe said easily, cleaning her brush. “Most people’s minds aren’t like books, but yours is. Pages and lines and illustrations and a story.”

Adam took that as a compliment, because he liked books, and smiled. Then he saw Frank was there, too. His mind froze. He didn’t want to talk about Frank. He didn’t want to _think_ about Frank. 

Frank saw Adam and froze, too. Chloe did a double take and said, “Whoa. Oookay. Frank, do you wanna finish cleaning those brushes? I’m gonna talk with Adam over here in the corner for a minute.”

“I can just, uh, leave,” Adam said.

Frank gave Adam a steady look. He said slowly, “I’m just going to clean those brushes,” and got to it.

Chloe took Adam by the elbow and steered him to a quiet corner of the studio, behind some big unused canvases. “Hey,” she said. “Frank isn’t mad at you. He doesn’t think anything is your fault.”

“Does he think it’s my parents’ fault?” Adam said quietly, his gut churning.

“I’m sorry, Adam,” Chloe said. “I’m not wrong about this. You know how it is. Our abilities don’t lie.”

The thing is, she was right. Adam had played games with Caleb’s empathy a hundred times, and he was never wrong. He always knew who had a crush on who. He always knew which teacher would be strict in class today. He always knew how Adam felt. Chloe’s telepathy was the same. Adam felt the last of his denial crumble away. “Oh my God,” he said. “It is their fault. They’re experimenting on people and I never knew – I never even thought about – “

Chloe hugged him from the side. “Hey. Hey. There’s no way you could know. I am so sorry. It’s not your fault.”

“They’re my _parents_ ,” Adam said in a hoarse whisper, shaking in Chloe’s grasp. “And they’ve been hurting people like Caleb – doing things to them – I told them about Caleb, I invited him to my house!”

“I don’t think they want to hurt Caleb,” Chloe said. “I would have noticed that.”

“I’m such a bad boyfriend,” Adam said. “How could he want to be with me after this?”

“I feel like I should give a spoiler alert before I say this,” Chloe said, “but he loves you, Adam. He loves you. Not everyone gets to have that – believe me, I know. When he comes back, you have to at least try.”

 

**VI.**

 

It had been months since they’d seen each other. But when Caleb laid eyes on Adam, his breath came fast with Adam’s fear, and his eyes went soft with Adam’s longing to touch him, and that made the bitter taste of hurt fade from Adam’s mouth, and he could see his own relief mirrored in Caleb’s face and it was just – well, _green_.

 

**VII.**

 

“This is totally wrong,” Caleb said, frowning over his AP Psychology textbook. “Women have pretty much the same feelings guys do. And babies _definitely_ don’t feel that way about their moms. Seriously, _ew_.”

“You’re reading Freud again, aren’t you?” said Adam.

Caleb sighed. “Yeah.”

“Freud didn’t have your empathy,” Adam said. “You have to feel kind of sorry for him, just having to make guesses about his patients’ feelings, not really knowing whether he was right.”

“I don’t feel sorry for him,” Caleb grumbled. “The man was messed up.”

“Why are you taking AP Psych anyway?” Adam said. “You don’t even like Ms. Peng.”

“Yeah, she’s a single mom and has three kids and she’s really tired all the time,” Caleb said. “It’s nothing wrong with her, she’s just kind of exhausting for me to be around.”

Adam rolled his chair over and rested his chin on Caleb’s shoulder. “You didn’t actually answer my question.”

“Don’t laugh,” Caleb said.

“I won’t,” Adam said right away. “You can feel that, right? You know I won’t.”

“Fine.” Caleb put down his highlighter and leaned his head against Adam’s. “I thought – well, you got me thinking about my ability as something cool, not just a burden. And I thought maybe I could use it to help people. I could be a therapist for people like me.”

“Like Dr. Bright?”

“Kind of. Maybe without the whole reporting to a shadowy organization thing,” Caleb said.

“Caleb.” Adam pulled on the arm of Caleb’s swivel chair so they faced each other. “That is _amazing_. You’re taking this thing that made your life a shitshow and you’re turning it into a superpower.”

“Like I said,” Caleb said, looking down at Adam’s hands. “You’re the one who made me see it that way. So. Thanks.”

Adam reached out and held Caleb’s hands. Chloe was right. She always was. Caleb _did_ love him. And it was so easy to love him back. “Guess what I’m feeling right now?” Adam said, playing the old game. Except this time, it wasn’t a game.

Caleb smiled sideways. “Pretty sure it’s the same thing I’m feeling. I can’t even really tell where it’s coming from.”

Adam squeezed his hands. “You didn’t actually answer my question.”

“Okay, you big sap. I’ll say it.” Caleb pressed a kiss to his lips. “Love.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Seeing Colors and Other Superpowers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047825) by [growlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery)




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